A
Alextheo01
Hi there,
I a new to this forum and I would greatly apppreciate any advice you can give. I bought a new home approximately 14 months ago, but unfortunately for me it has been an unmitigated disaster! I apologise for the long winded post, but you need to understand the full facts of my plight.
My home is literally being gutted because the plumbing, plastering, electrical istallation, joinery & flooring etc. is so bad. I have been living in a caravan on my front garden with my family for the last 4 weeks whist the repair work is being carried out by the building insurance company and I am told that we will still be living in it for another 2 months before the repair work is completed.
The electrical work is particularly bad and that I would greatly appreciate your advice as to how to proceed or to whom to complain to because I know that I have been lucky that nobody was injured or worse. I did not even receive a copy of the electrical installation or test certificates despite numerous requests, but my local council's Building Control department did receive a copy, but they won't even give me a copy of the electrical certificate for my own home as it would "breach the Data Protection Act". I suspect the reason why the builder will not give me a certificate is because he signed off the electrical certificates himself and from the poor quality of his work I striongly suspect that he is not a competent or qualified person who can do electrical work. The builder is not registered with any electrical body or the competent persons scheme. I know that he likes to show people an old expired CORGI card as proof of competence.
I have raised my concerns with my local council Building Control department who basically don't want to know.
Examples of the poor electrical workmanship are:-
* Floor/ceiling insulation resting directly on top of downlights when the manufacturer recommendations is that the down
lights (that do not have hoods) should be clear of any insulation for at least 500mm.
* Spur switches supplying bathroom extractor fans where there is still current in the live cable to the fan even when
the spur switch is in the "off" position.
* Light switches partially fitted behind door frames.
* Internal 2.5mm twin & earth running along the outside wall in the guttering with no protection.
* Main consumer unit casing melted after 2 months. The builder had been given a warning notice by the supplier that
the consumer was faulty and shoud be immediately replaced, but the builder decided to leave it in placeas he thought
it was OK).
* Sockets and extraction fans in bathrooms within zone 1 areas.
I a new to this forum and I would greatly apppreciate any advice you can give. I bought a new home approximately 14 months ago, but unfortunately for me it has been an unmitigated disaster! I apologise for the long winded post, but you need to understand the full facts of my plight.
My home is literally being gutted because the plumbing, plastering, electrical istallation, joinery & flooring etc. is so bad. I have been living in a caravan on my front garden with my family for the last 4 weeks whist the repair work is being carried out by the building insurance company and I am told that we will still be living in it for another 2 months before the repair work is completed.
The electrical work is particularly bad and that I would greatly appreciate your advice as to how to proceed or to whom to complain to because I know that I have been lucky that nobody was injured or worse. I did not even receive a copy of the electrical installation or test certificates despite numerous requests, but my local council's Building Control department did receive a copy, but they won't even give me a copy of the electrical certificate for my own home as it would "breach the Data Protection Act". I suspect the reason why the builder will not give me a certificate is because he signed off the electrical certificates himself and from the poor quality of his work I striongly suspect that he is not a competent or qualified person who can do electrical work. The builder is not registered with any electrical body or the competent persons scheme. I know that he likes to show people an old expired CORGI card as proof of competence.
I have raised my concerns with my local council Building Control department who basically don't want to know.
Examples of the poor electrical workmanship are:-
* Floor/ceiling insulation resting directly on top of downlights when the manufacturer recommendations is that the down
lights (that do not have hoods) should be clear of any insulation for at least 500mm.
* Spur switches supplying bathroom extractor fans where there is still current in the live cable to the fan even when
the spur switch is in the "off" position.
* Light switches partially fitted behind door frames.
* Internal 2.5mm twin & earth running along the outside wall in the guttering with no protection.
* Main consumer unit casing melted after 2 months. The builder had been given a warning notice by the supplier that
the consumer was faulty and shoud be immediately replaced, but the builder decided to leave it in placeas he thought
it was OK).
* Sockets and extraction fans in bathrooms within zone 1 areas.
